Meg’s doctor/father has been bragging to anyone who will listen that she is “quite the detective,” although Meg explains “her claim to fame is premature as she accidentally solved the case.” When another mystery is uncovered Meg not only feels the need to live up to her reputation, but she also needs to dispel the suspicion of guilt directed towards her family.

Looking for some well deserved privacy after planning a succession of weddings, sorting out her dysfunctional family, and solving a murder, Meg and her new boyfriend Michael accept her Aunt Phoebe’s long-standing offer to use her small cottage on Monhegan Island. As a warning that their trip might not be smooth sailing, it begins with an uncomfortably choppy ferry trip due a threatening hurricane. Then their romantic interlude becomes a total washout when they discover the cottage full of Meg’s family, including her aunt and her aunt’s friend, Mrs. Fenniman, her parents, and her brother Rob.

As if matters couldn’t be worse, all the ferries off the island have been cancelled due to the bad weather, and all the hotels are booked with an inordinate number of stranded bird watchers, leaving Michael to share a room with Meg’s brother and Meg to sleep on the couch in the living room.

As Michael and Meg prepare for the upcoming storm, they become aware of the bad feelings the islanders and visiting birders have towards the local, world-famous artist, Victor Resnick. He has built a modern monstrosity of a house and has obstructed the right of way to the public path that leads to the best bird watching on the island. Meg becomes personally acquainted with him when he threatens her with his shotgun after she and Michael try to use the pathway.

Then Meg and Michael discover Victor’s body in a tide pool and must pull him up the hill before he washes out to sea. Unfortunately, she also discovers her father’s map at the scene and feels suspicion is pointing toward too many of her nearest and dearest. Meg’s mother and Victor had been romantically involved many years ago, and Aunt Phoebe had angrily confronted him about electrocuting the island’s endangered birds. Even Meg and Michael are suspects since they had threatened to sue for use of the public path near his house.

The only good thing about the tumultuous weather is that the police are unable to come out to the island to investigate until the hurricane wanes, providing Meg with some time to investigate. She trips over bird enthusiasts everywhere, with their anoraks, cameras and binoculars. The birders supply a tremendous amount of unrelated clues she must sift through.

Meg is very much the “amateur” detective, and the book is light on mystery, but Ms. Andrew compensates by creating a great number of charming characters and scenarios. Meg’s world includes bizarre incidents, impossible people, and extraordinary happenings.

Meg’s family, with all their idiosyncrasies and foibles are so lifelike that it is easy to empathize with the impact they have on her life. With her comfortable writing style, Ms. Andrew openly welcomes her readers to share in her vision of a close-knit family and their chaotic lives and presents a very delightful read.

--Monica Pope